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A SHORT COMMUNICATION ON FORMULATION AND
EVALUATION OF DEPILATORIES

A. Elumalai
1
, M.Chinna Eswaraiah
1
and G. Prakash Yoganandam
2

1
Department of Pharmacognosy, Anurag Pharmacy College, Ananthagiri (V), Kodad (M), Nalgonda (Dt),
Andhra Pradesh, 508 206.
2
Dept. of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Mother Theresa Post Graduate & Research Institute of Health Sciences,
Gorimedu, Puducherry- 605006.

ABSTRACT
Depilatory is a cosmetic preparation used to remove hair from the skin on the human body. Currently, common active
ingredients are calcium thioglycolate or potassium thioglycolate, which breaks down the disulfide bonds in keratin and
weakens the hair so that it is easily scraped off where it emerges from the hair follicle.This review focuses the design of
formulation and evaluation parameters of depilatories.

Key words: Depilatories, Formulation and Evaluation.

INTRODUCTION
The term depilatory must therefore be reserved
for chemical means of hair removal from skin (in
particular superfluous hair occurring on the face, legs,
axilla, etc), without causing any injury to the skin [1]. It is
definitely different from other methods of hair removal,
which includes:

a) Mechanical removal of hair
b) Destruction of hair by use of laser energy
c) Shaving

Mechanism of action
Hair is composed primarily of proteins (88%).
These proteins are of a hard fibrous type known as keratin.
They are proteins, long chains of amino acids. Keratin
proteins form the cytoskeleton of all epidermal cells. The
amino acid cysteine is a key component of the keratin
proteins in hair fiber. The sulfur in the cysteine molecule
links together by disulfide chemical bonds. These disulfide
bonds are very strong and very difficult to break apart.
These disulfide chemical bonds linking the keratins
together are the key factor in the durability and resistance
of hair fiber to degradation under environmental stress.
They are largely resistant to the action of acids but the
disulfide bonds can be broken apart by alkali solutions [2].


Hence care should be taken, while formulating a
depilatory, to ensure that the preparation reacts with the
hair preferentially and that its effects will be sufficiently
rapid to cause disintegration of the hair, before causing
any damage to the underlying and the surrounding skin
[3]. Thus, the qualities of an ideal depilatory should be as
follows:
Non toxic and non irritant to the skin
Fast and efficient in action, preferably causing
depilation within five minutes
Preferably odourless
Should be stable upon storage
Non-staining/damaging to the clothing
Cosmetically elegant

*
Corresponding Author A.Elumalai - E mail: malairx@gmail.com


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FORMULATION OF DEPILATORIES
Chemical depilatories are sold in the form of
liquids, pastes and powders. The most popular type of
depilatories are the pastes and the powders. Typical
ingredients of a chemical depilatory include-
Alkaline reducing agent(s)
Perfume(s)
Emulsifier(s)
Emolient(s)
Thickening agent(s)
Humectant(s)
Miscellaneous agent(s)

Alkaline reducing agent(s)
Depilatory preparations usually contain an
alkaline reducing agent as their active component. These
agents will cause the hair fibres to swell and cleave the
cystine bridges between adjacent polypeptide chain;
causing degradation of the hair. The common agents
include.

(a) Sulphides:
Barium polysulphide was the first agent to be
used and later, the sulphides (mono-/poly-sulphide and
sulphydrate) of stromonium were also added. The
formulations containing alkali and alkaline earth sulphides
produce rapid depilation, particularly when a suspension
of lime is used along with. Nowadays sodium sulphide has
replaced with other milder agents.
Strontium sulphide has a milder action than sodium
sulphide, but needs to be used at a much higher
concentration. Sulphide containibg depilatories are less
popular nowadays because they produce the odour of
hydrogen sulphide on application. None-the-less, sulphide
based depilatories have a comparatively rapid action, are
thus preferred by many black skinned men for removing
facial hair.

(b) Stannites
Stannites particularly soluble stannites, were
employed to replace sulphides. Stannites offer the
advantage that they do not have an appreciable odour but
they tend to suffer from instability, forming stannates in
the presence of water. A number of stabilizers, such as
soluble silicates, triethanolamine, sugars, etc., were also
tried but were not found to be effective and did not
produce stable preparations.

(c) Substituted Mercaptans
These are the most widely used agents nowadays,
and are used in conjunction with calcium hydroxide.
Thioglycollic acid in the form of its alkaline salts is the
agent of choice, and it is a common practice to blend
sodium and calcium thioglycollate usually in ratios of 1:2
or 1:3 (Na to Ca). Calcium hydroxide, present in excess,
serves to control the pH and also acts as an alkali
reservoir. Other possible alkali reservoirs are strontium
hydroxide and calcium silicate. However, the solubility of
calcium and strontium hydroxides and thioglycolates
might be a problem in some cases. Other thio compounds
such as thiolactic acid, thioglycerol, etc., have been
employed successfully in some formulations.

Perfumes
Most of the alkaline reducing agents, including
salts of thioglycolic acid, have usually an odour of their
own, while many others, particularly sulphides, generate
the odour of hydrogen sulphide on application. Hence the
use of perfumes is almost a necessity in depilatory
products. The perfume materials used are aromatic
alcohols, ketones, anise, safrol and rose. With improved
manufacturing technology, the cosmetic industry has
arrived at products (such as calcium thioglycolate) which
are far less mal odorous than what was previously
available.

Emulsifiers
The common emulsifiers used are mainly
ethylene dioxide ethers of fatty alcohol soaps, sodium
lauryl sulphate and other anionics are rarely used for
reasons of cosmetic elegancy and potential irritancy.

Emollients
The common emollients used include mineral oils
and paraffins.

Thickening agents
Synthetic thickening agents, such as methyl,
hydroxyethyl or carboxyl methyl cellulose, are used. The
earlier formulations employed the use of materials such as
zinc stearate, talc, colloidal clay, titanium dioxide, starch,
precipitated chalk, etc., or a suitable combination of these
to make a paste of requisite consistency.

Humectants
Humectants such as glycerine, sorbitol, propylene
glycol, etc., are incorporated to prevent quick drying on
the skin.

Miscellaneous
Some other common ingredients of a depilatory product
include.
Enzymes
Accelerators
Hair growth retardants

EVALUATION OF DEPILATORIES
Tensile kinetics method
In this method, stress decay caused by disulfide
bond reduction is measured, using commercial instruments
such as a tensile strength tester, an optical diameter
gauging system, and an electrobalance. The time required
to reduce the stress supported by hair by 95% (T
95%
) was
shown to correlate to in-vivo hair removal rate in
commercial products.

HPLC Method
This method can distinguish between thioglcerol,
thiolactic acid and thioglycolic acid. The SH-group is
coupled to &-Chloro-4-nitro benzo-2-oxo-1,3-diazole,
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which results in a yellow derivative permitting HPLC
detection at 464 nm. The procedure is most suitable for use
with aqueous preparations, including o/w creams and
lotions.

Thermo-Mechanical method
In this method a thermomechanical analyzer is
used to measure the time at which a hair bundle, under
constant stress and immersed in depilatory, begins to
stretch. The analyzer is programmed to observe the
stretching and/ or breaking of a hair fibre bundle, attached
to a fibre tension probe necessary. The test is carried out
under isothermal conditions, and indicates good
precisions, which can be correlated with results on
animals.

Miscellaneous methods
TLC and GLC methods
Index of depilatory effectiveness
Determination of pH
Determination of Calcium thioglycolate and thermal
stability

SOME FORMULATIONS OF CHEMICAL
DEPILATORIES ARE GIVEN BELOW
Depilatory Powder
Formula %
Titanium dioxide 23
Barium sulfide 35
Wheat starch 40
Menthol 0.2
Perfume 1.8

Method: Dissolve the menthol in perfume oil, and add
some starch to it by rubbing. Sift the titanium dioxide and
barium sulfide together. Then mix and sift the remaining
starch, and next add it to the menthol-perfume mixture.
Mix the entire batch for about half an hour, and then pack.
Depilatory paste
Formula %
Strontium sulphide 20
Talc 20
Methyl cellulose 3
Glycerine 15
Water 42
Method: Dissolve methyl cellulose into water and mix
glycerine with it. Sift strontium sulphide and talc into the
above mixture, slowly and stir thoroughly, until a smooth
paste is obtained.

Depilatory Cream
Formula %
A
Magnesium aluminium silicate 3.50
Tetra sodium EDTA 1
PEG 400 4
Water 65.20
B
Mink oil 4
Ceteareth 8.8
Cetyl alcohol 1
C
Calcium thioglycolate 5.5
Calcium hydroxide 6.5
D Fragrance 0.50

Method: Heat (A) to 90C, hold with sheer agitation for
20 minutes. Cool to 75C, add premelted (B). Gradually
cool, continue the agitation to 55C. Add (C). Product will
thin out upon adding (C). Gradually cool to 40-45C, with
agitation and add the fragrance and mix.

Depilatory lotion
Formula %
A
Magnesium aluminium silicate 1
Deionized water 74
B Propylene glycol 5
C Mineral oil and lanolin alcohol, PEG 100 2
D
Calcium thioglycolate 5.5
Calcium hydroxide 6.5
E Preservative, dye and Fragrance 0.50

Method: slowly add magnesium aluminium silicate to the
water, while agitating at maximum available shear.
Continue mixing until smooth. Add (B) to (A). Heat (C) to
70C, then add with stirring. Cool to 45C, add Calcium
thioglycolate and stir. Add Calcium hydroxide, stir until
cool and uniform, Add (E).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Authors are grateful thanks to management of Anurag
Pharmacy College, Kodad.

REFERENCES
1. Tortora GJ and Grabowski SR. principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 8
th
ed, Harper Collins College Publishers, 1996.
2. Depilatories, Cosmetics and Toiletries, 105, 1990, 87-89.
3. Klein AW and Rish DC. Depilatory and shaving products. Clin Dermatol, 6(3), 1998, 68-70.